C. Matthew McMahon
Christian Preacher
I've been thinking about, for a good year now, the "order" of worship.
The Reformed Church Service (which is very closely linked to the early church explanations of the order of worship) always has a "biblical basis" for specific elements of worship which are to be included. This is not where my question arises. Elements of worship aside...
There are some deviations in order between, say, Calvin, Knox and the DPW. (See comparisons here)
To make this all oversimplified...
Let's say that we all agree that we have a biblical precedent to preach, sing and pray in a given worship service (yes, there are more, but to keep things simple with less typing...).
Congregation 1 does the following: Prays, Sings, Prays, Preaches, Sings, Prays and then is dismissed.
Congregation 2 does the following: Prays, Preaches, Sings, Prays and then is dismissed.
Congregation 3 does the following: Sings, Prays, Sings, Preaches, Prays and then is dismissed.
All of them have the three elements (to keep it simple) in their "order of worship".
I'm finding in my reading that what the puritans called Gospel-Logic (i.e. good and necessary inference of some kind) will determine "your" order of worship.
When you consider the order (not elements), specifically warranted by the bible, do you think it is generally warranted by Gospel-Logic or by some exact biblical outline through implied biblical examples that we find in Scripture? In other words, is order (in your opinion) circumstantial? Or is there a warrant for a specific order, implied or otherwise?
The Reformed Church Service (which is very closely linked to the early church explanations of the order of worship) always has a "biblical basis" for specific elements of worship which are to be included. This is not where my question arises. Elements of worship aside...
There are some deviations in order between, say, Calvin, Knox and the DPW. (See comparisons here)
To make this all oversimplified...
Let's say that we all agree that we have a biblical precedent to preach, sing and pray in a given worship service (yes, there are more, but to keep things simple with less typing...).
Congregation 1 does the following: Prays, Sings, Prays, Preaches, Sings, Prays and then is dismissed.
Congregation 2 does the following: Prays, Preaches, Sings, Prays and then is dismissed.
Congregation 3 does the following: Sings, Prays, Sings, Preaches, Prays and then is dismissed.
All of them have the three elements (to keep it simple) in their "order of worship".
I'm finding in my reading that what the puritans called Gospel-Logic (i.e. good and necessary inference of some kind) will determine "your" order of worship.
When you consider the order (not elements), specifically warranted by the bible, do you think it is generally warranted by Gospel-Logic or by some exact biblical outline through implied biblical examples that we find in Scripture? In other words, is order (in your opinion) circumstantial? Or is there a warrant for a specific order, implied or otherwise?